Mousetraps
by K-Chan5
Summary: Wormtail's on the loose in Hogwarts and Harry comes up with an amazingly, stupidly simple way to catch him. Please read and review!


Mousetraps

by K-Chan

I wrote this fic soooo long ago! I was looking through an old notebook and found it. It's kinda weird, but I liked it.

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There was still no sign of Wormtail. Everyone at Hogwarts was getting nervous. Where did he go? Was he with, gulp, Voldemort?

All the characters present shuddered.

"Don't say that name!" Professor McGonagall hissed.

Sorry. Didn't realize it was that loud.

"Of course it's loud!" Snape spat, "Everyone hears the narrator! It moves along the plot."

Hrumph.

Anyway, they were worried.

"Um... he could turn into a rat, right?" Ron asked, in a very small voice, hoping that he wouldn't sound stupid. After all, he had kept "Scabbers" as a pet for years.

Snape shot him a look that said "of course, you idiot" and Ron looked down at his feet.

"Ron may be on to something," Hermione quipped, shifting her weight as she stood next to a chair occupied by Harry. The black-haired boy gazed around Dumbledore's office. Snape was pacing violently by the desk, Professor McGonagall was standing, stiff as a board, next to the wall, and Professor Lupin was leaning nonchalantly against a filing cabinet. A bit out of place, a filing cabinet, but that's not the point. He and Ron were sitting by the door and Hermione was standing nearby.

Lupin nodded and crossed his arms, apparently deep in thought.

"Yes, Ron, he _did_ turn into a rat," he whispered slowly, as if this was new information.

"Why don't we just set a mousetrap?"

Everyone stared at Harry as if he'd just found the solution for world peace.

"Just a suggestion," he mumbled, shrinking down into his seat.

"Wonderful idea, Harry!" praised Lupin, looking as if surprised he hadn't thought of it first.

Snape just scowled.

"I believe I can transfigure some mousetraps," Professor McGonagall said, and she proceeded to do so. Buttons, paperclips, spare pieces of thread, and a variety of other odds and ends were soon transformed into wooden traps.

They all split up and started spreading the traps all over the school.

A few days later, they were everywhere. And I do mean _everywhere_.

"Eugh!" Hermione cried out in pain as a mousetrap emerged from her sandwich and latched itself onto her tongue. Ron was laughing so hard he couldn't finish his lunch.

"Sorry, Herm," Harry apologized as she pulled the thing off her tongue, "Can't be too careful."

She glared at him indignantly, but her attention was soon diverted to her glowing mouth. The tongue had turned a bright shade of green and was glowing boldly. She looked shocked.

"Oh, that's just to make sure we don't lose him," Harry explained the charm. By this time, Ron had fallen off his chair and was rolling around on the floor. Before he could get up, he was tread on by none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Having a problem, Weasley?" he spat.

Ron jumped up so suddenly that he knocked Draco head-first into the table. Sputtering with rage, Draco swung at the red-haired boy's head. Ron ducked, then tackled Malfoy around the middle.

Watching the scuffle, Harry sincerely wished Ron would finish him off, but he had more important things to worry about.

When Harry and Hermione reached the Hospital Wing, an odd sight met their eyes. No less than thirty students were there, with various glowing body parts. Ears, noses, fingers and just about everything else you could imagine (get your mind out of the gutter, folks). Madame Pomfrey was rushing about furiously, giving out potions to stop the intense glow that was collecting in the room. When she got to Hermione, she couldn't help but laugh,

"The tongue, dear? Oh my, that's the first I've seen yet."

But she still gave her the potion and everything went back to normal.

"I _do_ hope Dumbledore comes back soon," the nurse rambled as they left, "I'm so sick of these traps."

Two days later, Dumbledore returned from the beach. His hair was still white as ever, but his face looked a little browner.

"I trust everything went well?" he greeted McGonagall. She recounted the events of the past week very quickly.

"Wormtail?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling, "Why, two days after I arrived at the ocean, I found him in my beach bag next to the suntan lotion."

Professor McGonagall looked shocked. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Dumbledore chuckled,

"Sorry if it's been an inconvenience to you. Wormtail has been confined to a gerbil cage and will be dealt with accordingly."

Professor McGonagall was speechless, no doubt angry about all the trouble they had gone through.

Lupin was still trying to picture Dumbledore sunning at the beach, and it wasn't quite working.


End file.
